(Formerly Tata Sponge Iron Limited)

PO Joda Dist Keonjhar Odisha 758 034 India Tel 91 6767 278178 Fax 278129 Email info@tatasteellp.com

CIN L27102OR1982PLC001091

TSLPL/SE/2020-21/32

August 21, 2020 The Secretary, Listing Department

BSE Limited

Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers

Dalal Street

Mumbai 400 001

Scrip Code: 513010

The Manager – Listing Department

National Stock Exchange of India Limited

“Exchange Plaza”, 5th Floor, Plot No. C/1,

G Block, Bandra-Kurla Complex,

Bandra (East), Mumbai 400 051

Symbol: TATASTLLP

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Sub: Newspaper Advertisement Pursuant to Regulation 30 read with Schedule III Para A, of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, as amended, and in compliance with the General Circular dated May 5, 2020 read with General Circulars dated April 8, 2020 and April 13, 2020 issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and SEBI Circular dated May 12, 2020, we enclose copies of the following newspaper advertisements published for giving Notice of the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on Monday, September 14, 2020, at 3.00 p.m. (IST) through Video Conferencing / Other Audio Visual Means:

1. Business Standard 2. Sambad (Oriya)

This is for your information and records.

Thanking You, Yours faithfully, For Tata Steel Long Products Limited (Formerly Tata Sponge Iron Limited)

Sanjay Kasture Company Secretary

SHREYA JAI & SHINE JACOBNew Delhi, 20 August

O n August 18, the Madras HighCourt rejected a petition fromSterlite Copper, from themining

conglomerateVedanta’s stable, to reopenits plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi,closed since 2018 for its failure to meetpollution control norms. “Economicconsiderations can have no role to playwhile deciding the sustainability of ahighly polluting industry,” a two-judgebench observed.

Theseremarksaresignificantwhensetagainst the current controversy betweenthe government and activists over thedraft rules for Environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA), an exercise that hasbeenmandatory forexpansion,moderni-sationornewprojectssince1994.Thenewnorms involve significant relaxations (seebox: Sustainable controversies) designedto improve the ease of doing business, amajor item on the Modi government’sagenda to attract investment.

Corporate India has mostly not pub-licly commented on the new draft notifi-cation fromtheMinistryofEnvironment,ForestandClimateChange(MoEFCC),cir-culated inMarch to update a 2006notifi-cation. But industrialists are unlikely tohavemajor objections.

Take themove scrapping public hear-ings for oil and gas and shale explorationprojects. “This is a commendable initia-tive. Itwill help compress the time to findhydrocarbon molecules and bring themquickly to the market in a safe and envi-ronmentally responsible manner,” saidManishMaheshwari, chairman, InvenireEnergy Group of Companies, whichacquired Tata Petrodyne last year.“Aggregated yields from a series of suchinitiatives shall certainlymakeamaterialcontribution in our journey towardsAatmaNirbhar Bharat,” he added.

The MoEFCC received almost 2 mil-lion comments after it extended thedeadline for feedback from June 30 toAugust 11. But in an interview, PrakashJavadekar, Unionminister for MoEFCC,

said only “5,000-10,000of the total com-mentshavenewpoints”. Thismaymeanthat the Centre could reject thousandsof applications for the government toextend the deadline for feedback sub-mission because stakeholders in remoteand industrial areas and eco-sensitivezones could not participate owing to theCovid lockdown.

The door to further discussionappeared to closewhenRPGupta, secre-tary, MoEFCC, said on August 17 that“there is no requirement for discussion.That will open another Pandora’s box.Then nothing will happen in future.Everything canbe stifled.”

Thecontroversytookanuglyturnafterthe MoEFCC banned three NGOs forallegedlyspammingJavadekar’smailboxwith demands to restart the feedbackprocessforthoseinremoteindustrialareasand eco-sensitive zones. The websiteswererestoredbut the incidentbrought theissue front andcentreofpublic attention.Political leaders of opposition partiesincluding Congress MP Jairam Rameshand current state environment ministerof Maharashtra Aditya Thackeray havecalled for scrapping the process.

Jairam Ramesh who chairs theParliamentary Standing Committee onEnvironment,hasbeenat the forefrontof

opposition. As environment minister inthe United Progressive Alliance (UPA),Ramesh had attracted India Inc’s ire fordesignating swathes of areas known tobe rich in mineral reserves as “no-goareas”, a confrontation that saw himreplaced, after which some norms wereselectively relaxed.

This was the point Javadekarmade inan interview to Business Standard. OnRamesh’s objections to scrapping EIA forprojectexpansion,hepointed to the2006norms,notifiedunder theUPA,whichdidawaywiththeneedforpublichearings forbuildings up to 150,000 square metres.“Whatwehavedone is toreducethis facil-ityupto50,000sqmetresonly.Andweareproposing that only green buildings willget this concession up to 150,000 squaremetres,” he said.

On Ramesh’s objections to post-factoapprovals forviolators,Javedekarsaid inapublic statement, “Previously such viola-tors were allowed to regularise on a per-manent basis via Office Memorandumsissued in 2010”.

Ramesh did not respond to emailedqueries seeking responses to Javadekar’sstatements.

One major point of contention is theexclusion of public hearings in projectsunder the “B2” category (see box). AMoEFCCofficialexplainedthat the idea isto make the clearance process less com-plex for manufacturers. “Companies willhave to submit an EnvironmentalManagementPlan,andif theexpansion ismorethan25percentofproductioncapac-ity then EIA will be needed. Expansionprojects above a 10 per cent increase willrequire the recommendation of theEnvironment Appraisal Committee. Weare allowing expansion without a publichearing only in cases where the expan-sion does not lead to an increase in thepollution load.”

On the reduction of the notice periodfrom30 to20days, a seniorMoEFCCoffi-cial said it was prompted by the fact that“informationflowin2020is faster, sopeo-ple can access information and come upwith their suggestions at a faster pace.”

Thoughtheseexplanationssoundlog-ical, severalenvironmentalistsandpolicyadvocates say the newEIA draft does notalign with commitments India made atthe Paris Climate Change Summit. “Nosystemsorprocesseshavebeenprescribedinthedraftnotificationthatwouldrequirethe regulatory authority or the appraisalcommittee to consider questions such aswhether a proposed project would emitGHGs,whether theproject site isvulnera-ble to climate change impacts (such as incoastalareas),whethertheadaptivecapac-ity of a vulnerable area is being adverselyaffectedandsoon,”saidShibaniGhosh,anenvironmental lawyer andFellow,Centrefor PolicyResearch.

At the same time, legal cases couldcomplicate matters. Last week, theSupremeCourtdirectedtheCentre—twodays after the deadline — to publish thedraft in regional languages. Then theKarnataka High Court asked the Centreto publish the draft in Kannada and hasstayed the publication of the final notifi-cation till September 7.

Meanwhile, theMoEFCChasappoint-ed the National Environmental Engin-eeringResearchInstitute (NEERI) toscru-tinise the comments and suggestions.After this, the final draft will be placedbefore a committee headed by S R Wate,formerNEERIdirector, for further scruti-nyandexperts fromvarioussectorswouldalso participate. Several environmental-ists have pointed out that appointing itsownagencyforexaminethenormsunder-mines the public consultationprocess.

Red signals ongreen normsThe controversy over the draft rules forenvironment clearances has created moreheat than light

SHREYA JAINew Delhi, 20 August

P rime Minister Narendra Modi inhis Independence Day addressagain asserted the mega plan of

“One Sun, One World, One Grid”(OSOWOG) — a trans-national electric-ity grid supplying solar power acrossthe globe. Modi first presented the ideain 2018 during the first assembly of theInternational Solar Alliance (ISA).Policy experts describe it as part ofIndia’s answer to China’s “One Belt OneRoad” project.

What isOSOWOGandwhatwill it do?According to the draft plan of theMinistry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE), OSOWOG will connect 140countries through a common grid thatwill be used to transfer solar power.“The vision behind the OSOWOGmantra is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is aconstant at some geographical loca-tion, globally, at any given pointof time. With India at the fulcrum, thesolar spectrum can easily be dividedinto two broad zones viz. far East,which would include countrieslike Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Lao,Cambodia etc, and far West, whichwould cover the Middle East andthe Africa Region,” MNRE said inthe Request for Proposal for hiringconsultants.

The plan is divided into three phases.Phase 1will connect the Indian gridwithgrids in West Asia, South Asia andSoutheast Asia to share solar and otherrenewable energy resources. Phase 2willconnect the first-phase nations with theAfrican pool of renewable sources. AndPhase 3 will be the final step of globalinter-connection.

Hownovel is the idea?Having international associations is nota new trend for the energy sector, whichalready has a strong geo-political organ-isation such as OPEC (Organization ofthe Petroleum Exporting Countries).Officially announced during the UNClimate Change Conference in Paris in2015, ISA is a partnership of solarresource-rich countries.

Currently, 121 countries, mostlyfrom Africa, Southeast Asia andEurope, have agreed to become ISAmembers. Pakistan and China are not apart of ISA.

India also has power trade withBhutan and hydropower project devel-opment pact with Nepal. Last year, theCentral Electricity RegulatoryAuthority gave its nod to new regula-tions for cross-borderelectricity trade, makingit easier.

However, having anintercontinental powerinfrastructure is a fairlynew idea. Australia-basedSun Cable is developingthe Australian-ASEANPower Link (AAPL) underwhich it will supply renewable electrici-ty from Australia to Singapore and laterto Indonesia.

Why isOSOWOGneededand is itpractical?Several countries, including China, haveinitiated infrastructure projects in othercountries, a step seen as a sign of assert-ing supremacy. While India is a partnernation is most trade associations, withISA andOSOWOG it is planning to take aleadership position.

“It is obviously a very grand andambitious project. But it is also clear

that a new energy sector paradigm isneeded as we are facing a huge inflex-ion point in electricity generation andconsumption. Its potential benefitsinclude a widespread scale-up inaccess to energy, a check on carbonemissions, lower cost and improvedlivelihood,” said Vinay Rustagi, man-aging director, Bridge to India, aresearch agency tracking renewablesector in India. “India will need astrong coalition of international part-ners to realise this vision. It will beinteresting to see a practical outlineand how the government intends to goabout its execution.”

Geo-politically, this is being toutedas a clever strategy. However, technol-ogy-wise, it is yet to make sense. Withbattery and storage technology

becoming cheaper, elec-tricity consumption atsource end is amore fea-sible idea for solarpower. However, short-age of land bank andlimited hours of sun-shine tip the balance infavour of expanding thesourcing of solar energy

to other nations.Several Africannations are devoid of

reliable electricity supply and thatmakes thema readymarket for electric-ity infrastructure and for renewableenergy development. Off-grid solar sys-tems have found large acceptability inKenya, where these are also a means ofaddressing poverty and illiteracy.

Chinese companies are alreadyactive in several Africanmarkets.WhileIndia has taken baby stepswith the ISA,a major investment drive is still miss-ing. This is planned to be achievedthrough OSOWOG.

OneSun,OneWorld,OneGrid:What it is,why it’sneeded?

N DECODED N

While India isa partner nationis most tradeassociations, withISA and OSOWOG it isplanning to take aleadership position

KOLKATA | FRIDAY, 21 AUGUST 2020 TAKE TWO 9. <

TIM CULPAN20 August

AlibabaGroup’s strongreboundinbothrevenueandprofit lastquar-ter are impressive. Sales climbed

34 per cent and operating incomejumped42percentafterpaltryresultsthequarter before. But investors should beaware justwhere thosenum-bers are coming from beforetheycelebratea recovery.

Whileprimarilyane-com-merce company— account-ing for half of revenue lastfinancial year — the single-biggestcontributortogrowthin the June period was whatthe Chinese company calls“newretail.” In thebackwardworldofonline sales, this actually refersto brick-and-mortar businesses such assupermarkets. That category, lumpedtogetheras“others,”climbed88percentfromayearprior.

Its actual e-commerce businessexpanded just21percent.Theonlytimeit’s been worse was the March quarter,

when the fallout from the pandemicresulted ingrowthof just 1.1per cent.

Alibaba’s other major growth driverwas its up-and-coming cloud division,whichexpanded59percent.Onthesur-face, this is laudable;however, thatbusi-nesscontinuestobleedmoneywithoper-ating loss margins running at 14.4 percent, thesamelevelasthreemonthsear-

lier.Sure,thismarginhasnar-rowed over the past year, butas yet there’s little indicationthat Alibaba can be expectedto deliver sustainedeconomies-of-scale as thatcategory grows, especially inthe face of stiff competitionfrom the likes of TencentHoldingsLtd.

Leveragingitsinvestmentsinnewareas such as physical retail isn’ta bad thing. It shows a pragmaticapproachtoinvestmentasmanagementseizesnewopportunities forgrowth.Yetinvestors who want to cheer a recoveryforChina’slargeste-commercecompanyshould keep in mind what it isthey’re celebrating. BLOOMBERG

Alibaba’s growthisnot a recoveryto celebrate

Sustainablecontroversies(SomekeystickingpointsindraftEIAnorms)

>Postfactoapprovalsforprojectsthatwerestartedillegally

>Timeperiodforpublichearingsreducedfrom30to20days

>ChangedEIAregimeforprojectexpansion

>Publichearingscrappedforover40industriesinthe‘B2category’(inlandwaterwaysprojects,offshoreandonshoreoil,gasandshaleexploration,smallhydroelectricprojectsupto25Mwandirrigationprojectsbetween2,000and10,000hectaresofcommandarea)

REUTERS

While primarilyan e-commercecompany, thesingle-biggestcontributor togrowth in theJune period waswhat Alibabacalls ‘new retail’

ANDREAFELSTED20 August

W ith international travel decimatedbyCovid-19, it’sadarktimeforhote-liers. So it’s hardly surprising that

Accor SA might be interested in a mergerwith London-listed InterContinental HotelsGroup Plc, owner of the Crowne Plaza andHoliday Innbrands.

France’s Le Figaro newspaper reportedthat Accor’s CEO, Sebastien Bazin, consid-eredanapproachfortherivalcompanybeforedeciding the timingwasn’t quite right. But ifa deal could be agreed, there would be anopportunity to strip out costs to help thechainsnavigate thecurrent crisis.

IHG operates a so-called “asset-light”businessmodel,where itdoesn’townmuchproperty—preferringinsteadtofranchise itsbrandsandofferhotel-management servic-es to the owners. Its French rival hasmovedinthisdirectiontoo,whichlimits thesavingsyou’d get if you were combining two bigproperty portfolios.

Nevertheless, there are other costs thatcouldbecutinareassuchascentralisedbook-ings,propertymanagementandtheprocure-mentofgoodsusedbyhotels. IHGandAccorare respectively theworld’s fourth- and fifth-biggesthoteloperators, andtherewouldalsobegeographicaladvantagestobringingthemtogether. The two companies are especiallyconcentrated in the mid-market, throughchains such as Accor’s Ibis and Novotelbrands. These cater more to domestic trav-ellers,sothey’rebetterplacedtorecovermorequickly fromthepandemic.

The problem is that the very circum-stancesthatmakeadealdesirablealsorenderitdifficult toconstruct. Shares inAccorhavefallen40percentsincebefore thepandemic—abouttwiceasmuchasIHGstock.SoAccorhas suffered much more, leaving it as thesmallerparty.Thatmakes itharder forBazinto initiate talks from a position of strength.Basedontheirmarketvalues,anil-premiummerger would give IHG shareholders 57 percent of the combined company and Accor’s43per cent. BLOOMBERG

Holiday Inn mayoffer refuge fromthe pandemic